Elon University Athletics

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Elon University volleyball team fell to N.C. A&T in straight sets, 3-0 (17-25, 17-25, 17-25), Friday evening at Moore Gymnasium.
 
The Phoenix moved to 10-15 overall and 7-8 in CAA play, while the Aggies improved to 11-13 overall and 6-7 in conference action.
 
Anna Sewell paced Elon offensively with six kills, while Allie Schultz, Catherine Rucker and Caroline Smith each added four. Rucker committed no attack errors on nine swings to finish with a team-best .444 hitting percentage.
 
Kayla Palmer led the Phoenix with 12 assists and added seven digs and a service ace, while April Rice distributed eight assists. Casey Brower led Elon defensively with 10 digs, and Cameron Lanier followed with five digs while adding three kills and a service ace.
 
N.C. A&T hit .333 as a team with 40 kills. Tyne Ross led all players with 15 kills on a .273 hitting percentage, while Nicole Ellis finished with eight kills on 11 attempts without an error to hit .727.
 
THE RUNDOWN

• Elon took an early 6-3 advantage in the opening set behind kills from Rice, Sewell and Lanier along with a pair of N.C. A&T attack errors. The Phoenix remained in front at 8-6 following a Berlekamp kill, but the Aggies responded with seven consecutive points to move ahead 13-8. Rucker stopped the run with a kill and added another shortly after, but A&T carried a 15-10 advantage into the media timeout. The Aggies later extended the margin to 23-14 before Elon scored three of the next four points behind a Palmer service ace and a Rucker kill. A&T answered on the following rally to secure the opening frame, 25-17.
• N.C. A&T jumped out to a 5-1 advantage in the second set and extended its lead to 8-2. Lanier briefly stopped the run with a kill, but the Aggies continued to create separation and built a 13-4 advantage. Elon picked up points behind a Rice solo block and a Schultz-Rucker block, but A&T stretched its lead to 17-7. Trailing 20-12 later in the frame, the Phoenix scored three straight points, highlighted by a Sewell kill, to trim the deficit to 20-15. A&T responded by scoring five of the final seven points to close out another 25-17 victory and take a 2-0 match lead.
• The third set featured eight ties and four lead changes as the teams battled throughout the opening half of the frame. Elon broke a 5-all tie with a Lanier kill and a Smith service ace to take a 7-5 advantage and later moved ahead 12-9 following a Smith kill and Lanier ace. Sewell gave the Phoenix a 14-12 lead with a kill before N.C. A&T answered with six consecutive points to move in front 18-14. Smith stopped the run with a kill, but the Aggies followed with five more unanswered points to extend their advantage to 23-15. Elon fought off two points behind a Berlekamp-Rice block and an A&T attack error, but the Aggies scored the final two points to finish the set, 25-17, and complete the sweep.

 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Smith established career highs with three kills and nine attacks while also recording the first service ace of her collegiate career.
• Rucker finished with four kills without an attack error, hitting .444 on nine attempts. She now owns 201 career blocks and 364 career kills.
• Palmer's service ace moved her to 49 for her career, leaving her one shy of 50. She also increased her career assist total to 1,065.
• Berlekamp added two block assists Friday to move to 297 career blocks, leaving the senior three away from reaching 300.
• Lanier now owns 972 career kills, putting her 28 away from becoming the next Phoenix to reach the 1,000-kill milestone. She also has 419 career digs and 1,108 career points.

 
UP NEXT

• Elon and N.C. A&T conclude the weekend series Saturday at 3 p.m. inside Moore Gymnasium. The match will serve as the Phoenix's final CAA contest of the regular season.

 
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